SC Johnson promises a recycling center in Indonesia in exchange for 20,000 tweets

SC Johnson is hosting a booth at GreenBiz19 to talk about ocean plastic and the company's efforts to reduce plastic waste.

SC Johnson & Son Inc. is looking to open another recycling center in Indonesia to help capture plastic before it leaks into the ocean.

But the company is putting a social media twist on the idea.

The Racine, Wis.-based company already sponsors eight plastic recycling centers in that country, but indicates it will build an additional facility if enough people tweet about the ocean plastic issue.

Tweeters (Or is it Twitterers? Or the Twitterati?) have until the end of the week to “share their support for reducing ocean plastic.” They need to include #SocialPlastic or #SCJRecycles in those tweets for them to count toward a minimum of 20,000 tweets or retweets. If that goal is reached, the company will open an additional recycling center.

“Plastic pollution has become a critical issue around the globe, especially where recycling infrastructure is not in place. We believe the more people are talking about this issue, the more government, businesses, NGOs and communities will work together to address it,” said Kelly Semrau, senior vice president of global corporate affairs, communication and sustainability, in a statement.

“Social media can be a great motivator,” she said.

SC Johnson is working with Plastic Bank to open recycling centers in Indonesia to capture used material before it can enter the environment. Plastic Bank provides incentives for people to collect plastic that would otherwise enter the ocean.

Material collected is processed and sold under the Social Plastic brand that helps fund the program. Sponsors also can buy Social Plastic collection credits that help fund the program.

The company has pledged to triple the amount of post-consumer recycled plastic used in packaging by 2025 and said 100 percent of plastic packaging will be recyclable, reusable or compostable by the same year.

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